Mattress topper pad and border stabilizer

ABSTRACT

A combined topper pad-border stabilizer means for mattress inner spring units which comprise a single unitary member of resilient material having a mattress topper pad portion, and a border stabilizer portion. The topper pad portion overlies the top or bottom of the coil spring unit. The border stabilizer portion is inserted between at least one convolution of each coil on the outside row of the coil spring unit to stiffen the spring action of the coils. In one embodiment the border stabilizer portion is preformed in the position it will assume in the mattress. In the second embodiment, the border stabilizer portion is formed in such a way that it must be bent 90* to be in the position it will assume in the mattress.

nited States Patent 1191 istarz Jul 9 1974 1 MATTRESS TOPPER PAD AND BORDER 3,665,530 5/1972 Basner 5/354 STABILIZER A N b [75] Inventor: Richard Mistarz, Chicago, Ill. Prlmary Exammer-casmlr un erg [73] Assignee: Sealy, Incorporated, Chicago, Ill. [57] ABSTRACT [22} Filed: 3, 1972 A combined topper pad-border stabilizer means for mattress mner spring units which comprlse a single pp 303,313 unitary member of resilient material having a mattress topper pad portion, and a border stabilizer portion. [52] US. Cl. 5/354, 5/351 The PP p Portion er ies the top or bottomof 51 Int. Cl A47c 23/04,- A47 25/00 the Sprmg The border P 58 Field f S h u 5/2 0 262 331 345 35 serted between at least OIIB COIIYOlUUQH Of 6 3Cl'l COll 5/354 on the outslde row of the COll spring umt to stlffen the a spring action of the coils. ln one embodiment the bor- [561 iii 1IFZLZitilZ TiQ1n$21385 UNITED T T PATENTS ment, the border stabilizer portion is formed in such a g i way that it must be bent 90 to be in the position it ow an 1 3,111,690 11/1963 Tarlow 5/351 3 assume m the mattress 3,618,146 11/1971 Fredinand 5/35] 5 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures MATTRESS TOPPER PAD AND BORDER STABILIZER This invention relates to improvements in mattresses and, more particularly, to acombined topper pad-' border stabilizer means for mattress inner spring units.

' covered with an outer layer of material commonly known in the bedding field as ticking. The ticking is most generally applied in three sections; the sections being a top panel, a bottom panel, and a side panel. The three panels are sewn together on the mattress unit so that the top, bottom, and side panels cover the top, bottom, and side portions of the mattress unit, respectively. In order to avoid an unsightly seam resulting from sewing the ticking panels together, it has been the practice to include a piece of fabric-covered rope at the juncture of the top and side panels as well as at the juncture of the bottomand side panels during the stitching.

Recently,the fibrous material that was positioned on top of the inner spring unit has been replaced by unitary pads of resilient material, such as polyurethane foam, which are known in the bedding field as topper pads. Such topper pads have now found wide-spread use in the bedding field to cover inner spring units. This mattress construction requires feeding a rope-like material along the junctures of the ticking panels as the junctures are covered with trimming fabric and sewn together, thus, supplying the mattress edge with a fabric covered rope.

In a recent modification, the topper pad has a lip or welting about its periphery. The ticking panels are positionedon the topper pads so they abut the preformed welting. A strip of trimming fabric covers the welting and overlaps the edges of the ticking panels, the trimming fabric and the ticking panels being sewn to the welting at its base thus producing an attractive border having the appearance of fabric-covered rope. This modification is described and illustrated in US. Pat. No. 3,665,530, issued May 30, 1972 and assigned to the assignee of the present application.

It has further been the practice to reinforce and stiffen the edges and/or corners of mattress inner spring units. Exemplary border stabilizers are described and illustrated in US. Pat. .Nos. 3,618,146, 3,287,749, 3,391,412 and 3,653,081. It would be desirable to provide for a mattress inner spring unit means which would function both as a topper pad and as a border stabilizer.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a combined topper pad and border stabilizer for a mattress inner spring unit.

These and other objects more apparent hereinafter are realized by the topper pad-border stabilizer means embodying the features of the present invention. This pad-stabilizer means is a unitary member made of resilient material of the type heretofore used in the art for mattress topper pads. The pad-stabilizer means comprises two sections, one of which functions as a topper pad and the other of which extends between one or more of the convolutions of the coils adjacent the edge of the mattress to thereby stiffen these coils and the edge of the mattress.

The invention, both as to its organization and method of operation, taken with further objects and advantages thereof, will be understood by reference to the follow ing description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. I is a cross-sectional, fragmentary perspective view of a topper pad-border stabilizer means embodying the features of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectionalfragmentary view of another topper pad-border stabilizer means embodying the features of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional, fragmentary view of a topper pad-border stabilizer means of FIGS. 1 and 2 in a mattress inner-spring unit. 7

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional, fragmentary view of a third topper pad-border stabilizer means embodying the features of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional, fragmentary view of a fourth topper pad-border stabilizer means embodying the features of the present invention; and

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional fragmentary view of a topper pad-border stabilizer means of FIGS. 4 and -5 in a mattress inner-spring unit.

Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIG. 3, there is illustrated a mattress inner-spring unit embodying the features of the present invention and indicated generally by, reference numeral 10. The mattress unit 10 includes topper'pad-border stabilizer means 12 and 14 embodying the features of the present invention associated with a conventional coil springassembly indicated generally by reference numeral 15. The topper pad-border stabilizer means 12 and 14 each have a section 16 whichacts as a topper pad for the top and bottom surfaces, respectively, of the mattress spring unit 10 and each has a section 18 and 20,-respectively, which extends between the convolutions of the coils 22 on the edge of the mattress and thereby stiffens these coils and the edge of the mattress. In this instance, each topper pad-border stabilizer means Hand 14 has a preformed welting 24 formed on its peripheral edge. Ticking, indicated generally by reference numeral 26, covers the topper pad-border stabilizer means 12 and 14 and abuts the welting 24 which is cov ered with a trimming fabric 28. The ticking 26 and trimming fabric 28 are sewn to the welting 24.

Considering now the topper pad-border stabilizer means 12 and 14 in more detail, and'referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, respectively, each pad-stabilizer means 12 and 14 includes a topper pad portion 16 and a border stabilizer portion 18 and 20. The difference between the two embodiments is that the border stabilizer portion 18 of the FIG. 1 embodiment has been molded into the position it will assumein the inner-spring mattress unit 10, whereas the stabilizer portion 20 of the F IG. 2 em-. bodiment must be bent at a right angle to properly position it in the mattress unit 10. The pad-stabilizer means 12 and 14 are made of resilient material, preferably plastic foam, and most preferably polyurethane foam. The welting 24, preferably formed so as to curve through the major part of a circle, extends outwardly at the outer periphery of the topper pad portion 16 from a welting base 24a.

The border stabilizer portions 18 and 20, which extend around the entire periphery of the topper pad portion 16, have slits 19 adapted to receive a convolution of the coils 22 on the outermost row of the mattress unit 10. When the border stabilizer portions 18 and 20 are in their proper position in the mattress unit as shown in FIG. 3, the resilient material extends between the convolutions of these outermost coils. This stiffens the spring action of these coils and thus stiffens the entire edge of the mattress unit 10.

In the mattress unit 10 topper pad-border stabilizer means 12 and 14 are covered with ticking 26 comprised of a top panel 30, a bottom panel 32, and a side panel 34. The top and bottom ticking panels 30 and 32 cover the top and bottom faces of the mattress unit 10, respectively, while the side ticking panel 34 covers the sides of the mattress unit 10. The ticking panel 30 is positioned on the top topper pad portion 16 so that the outer peripheral edge of the ticking panel 30 lies on one side of the welting base 240 while the upper edge of the side ticking section 34 is positioned on the opposite side of the welting base 24a. Trimming fabric 28 is placed over the welting portion 24 overlapping the edges of the ticking panels 30 and 32 and stitches (not shown) are sewn through the trimming fabric 28 and ticking sections 30 and 32. The stitches extend through the welting base 24a so that the ticking sections 30 and 32 are held together and in a fixed relationship with respect to the pad-stabilizer means 12.

The ticking panel 32 is positioned on the bottom padstabilizer means 14 so that the outer peripheral edge of the ticking panel 32 lies on one side of the welting base 24a while the lower edge of the side ticking section 34 is positioned over the welting 24 so as to extend over the welting base 24a and overlaps the edges of the ticking sections 32 and 34. The trimming fabric 28 and the ticking sections 32 and 34 are sewn together by stitches (not shown) which extend through the welting base 24a so that the ticking sections 32 and 34 are held together and in a fixed relationship with respect to the padstabilizer means 14.

Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, other preferred forms of topper pad-border stabilizer means embodying the features of the present invention are illustrated and indicated generally by the numerals 38 and 40. Each of the topper pad-border stabilizer means 38 and 40 includes a topper pad portion 16 and a border stabilizer portion 42 and 44. The border stabilizer portion 42 of the topper pad-border stabilizer means 38 has been molded into the position it will assume in the inner-spring mattress unit 46 while the stabilizer portion 44 of the topper pad-border stabilizer means 40 must be bent at a right angle to properly position it in the mattress innerspring unit 46. The topper pad-border stabilizer means 38 and 40 are made of a resilient material, preferably plastic foam, and most preferably polyurethane foam.

The topper pad-border stabilizer means 38 and 40 includes the welting 24, that is substantially the same as the welting 24 utilized in the embodiments of the invention shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. The welting 24 extends around the entire periphery of the topper padborder stabilizer means 38 and 40.

Referring to FIG. 6, the topper pad-border stabilizer means 38 and 40 are shown assembled into a mattress inner-spring unit 46. In FIG. 6, the same reference numerals identify the same parts as those identified in FIG. 3. The border stabilizer portion 42 of the topper pad-border stabilizer means 38 engages a single convolution on the top of the coils 22 in the outermost row of the mattress unit 46. Similarly, the border stabilizer portion 44 of the topper pad-border stabilizer means 40 engages a single convolution on the bottom of the coils 22. When the border stabilizer portions 42 and 44 are in position between the convolutions of the coils 22, the spring action of these coils is stiffened and thus the entire edge of the mattress unit 46 is made more firm. The mattress unit 46 is held together by the top ticking panel 30, the bottom ticking panel 32 and the side ticking panel 34 in a manner similar to the mattress unit 10 of FIG. 3. A trimming fabric 28 covers the welting 24 and is sewn to the welting base 24a to join together the side panel 34 with the top panel 30 and the bottom panel 32.

The topper pad-border stabilizer means 38 and 40 performthe same function when assembled in mattress unit 46 and can be used interchangeably in the mattress unit 46. Similarly, the topper pad-border stabilizer means 12 and 14 perform the same function in the mattress unit 10, when assembled, and can be used interchangeably in the mattress unit 10.

It is to be understood that various modifications can be made to the disclosed invention without departing from the scope thereof, and it is intended to cover in the appended claims all such modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

1 claim:

1. A mattress topper pad and border stabilizer means for a coil spring unit comprising asingle unitary member of resilient material including a topper pad portion and a border stabilizer portion, said topper pad portion being a substantially planar sheet of material for overlying the coil spring unit, said border stabilizer portion extending from the periphery of the topper pad portion and having a thickness at least as great as a single convolution of the coil spring in said coil spring unit, said border stabilizer portion being joined with the periphery of the topper pad portion and the thickness of the border stabilizer portion being configured for insertion into a convolution of the coil spring.

2. The mattress topper pad and border stabilizer means of claim 1 wherein said border stabilizer portion has a thickness at least as great as two convolutions of the coil spring in said coil spring unit.

3. The mattress topper pad and border stabilizer means of claim 2 wherein said border stabilizer portion has a slit therein for receiving a convolution of the coil spring.

4. The mattress topper pad and border stabilizer means of claim 1 wherein said border stabilizer portion is preformed into a position of about with respect to the topper pad portion for insertion into the coil spring unit.

5. The mattress topper pad and border stabilizer means of claim 1 wherein said border stabilizer portion must be bent about 90 with respect to said topper pad portion to assume the position in association with the coil spring unit. 

1. A mattress topper pad and border stabilizer means for a coil spring unit comprising a single unitary member of resilient material including a topper pad portion and a border stabilizer portion, said topper pad portion being a substantially planar sheet of material for overlying the coil spring unit, said border stabilizer portion extending from the periphery of the topper pad portion and having a thickness at least as great as a single convolution of the coil spring in said coil spring unit, said border stabilizer portion being joined with the periphery of the topper pad portion and the thickness of the border stabilizer portion being configured for insertion into a convolution of the coil spring.
 2. The mattress topper pad and border stabilizer means of claim 1 wherein said border stabilizer portion has a thickness at least as great as two convolutions of the coil spring in said coil spring unit.
 3. The mattress topper pad and border stabilizer means of claim 2 wherein said border stabilizer portion has a slit therein for receiving a convolution of the coil spring.
 4. The mattress topper pad and border stabilizer means of claim 1 wherein said border stabilizer portion is preformed into a position of about 90* with respect to the topper pad portion for insertion into the coil spring unit.
 5. The mattress topper pad and border stabilizer means of claim 1 wherein said border stabilizer portion must be bent about 90* with respect to said topper pad portion to assume the position in association with the coil spring unit. 